Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $23.56 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,371 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 12,299 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 1.6% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in American Express were worth $23,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,097,000 after purchasing an additional 28,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $7.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $294.88. 846,508 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,921,561. The business’s fifty day moving average is $296.45 and its 200 day moving average is $268.66. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Barclays raised their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.